By Bradley Radu / Staff Writer 

Missouri Valley University is preparing to welcome elementary students from Marshall and surrounding communities to campus for its first Spooky STEAM Camp, a day focused on hands-on learning, creativity and community involvement.

The camp will run from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Oct. 30, and will take place primarily in Murrell Library, with the possibility of using outdoor spaces and other campus buildings depending on the weather and needs of the activities. The program is open to students in kindergarten through fifth grade.

Around 30 children have already registered for the camp, according to Samantha Perkins, who is helping organize the event. Participants are coming from several surrounding school districts, including Marshall and Slater.

The camp is based around STEAM principles, which incorporate science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics. Activities will allow children to experiment, create projects, use university equipment and spaces, and take some of their creations home.

Perkins said one of the most important parts of the program is giving children the opportunity to interact directly with MVU students, staff and faculty.

“Most importantly, they get to interact with our students.”

Several university classes are partnering with the camp to develop and lead activities. Education students will be among those involved, and there is also a potential partnership with a psychology class. Rather than university staff designing every activity, students are being encouraged to take a larger role in planning and teaching.

For Perkins, that involvement creates benefits for both the children attending the camp and the MVU students leading it. Future educators can gain experience developing lessons, communicating with children and managing hands-on activities in a setting outside of a traditional classroom.

“The majority of our activities that they’ll be doing for Spooky STEAM are going to be designed by students.”

Spooky STEAM follows the university’s first weeklong STEAM camp, which was held during the final week of July. That program brought 49 campers to campus and received a strong enough response that organizers plan to hold it again next summer.

The fall camp will not simply repeat the activities from July. Because some children are returning, organizers wanted to create new experiences while also taking advantage of the increased number of MVU students available during the academic year.

The program also serves another purpose for local families. Organizers intentionally selected a weekday when several area schools are not in session. The goal is to give children an educational experience while also providing families with an option on a day when parents may still have to work.

Perkins said programs like Spooky STEAM fill a need in the Marshall area while allowing the university to strengthen its relationship with the surrounding community.

“We love meeting our students where they’re at and meeting our community where they’re at, and really, we exist to serve you.”

Organizers are already considering how the program could expand. Perkins said she hopes to offer another STEAM event during the spring in addition to the weeklong summer camp and fall program. Future growth could also create more opportunities for MVU students to take leadership roles.

One possibility is eventually developing internships connected to the camps. Students could help plan activities, promote events, communicate with area schools and organizations, and handle other responsibilities involved in running the program. Those opportunities could benefit students in education, marketing, business and other fields.

Perkins said she would like to see the program eventually become a regular part of the relationship between Missouri Valley and the Marshall community.

With Spooky STEAM, that growth begins by giving elementary students a chance to experiment and create while allowing MVU students to turn what they are learning in the classroom into practical experience.